Milestone-Proposal talk:E-Assisted Bike
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Original Citation Title and Text -- Administrator4 (talk) 16:08, 29 July 2022 (UTC)
First Electrically-Assisted Bike, 1993
The first 'electrically-assisted bike' was commercialized in 1993 by Yamaha Motor, for which pedaling was required, but the rider could derive battery-powered assistance to reduce necessary efforts. This type of vehicle varies in design detail, but assistance cuts out when the rider stops pedaling or when the speed exceeds specified thresholds. This vehicle is especially useful for people in hilly areas, since the motor provides assistance for going uphill.
Advocate discussion -- Krein (talk) 21:00, 10 November 2022 (UTC)
I am serving as an advocate for this proposal. There are at least three challenges that need to be addressed: 1. The term "electrically-assisted bike" needs a more comprehensive definition and discussion of how it is unique and why it has such a high impact as to be suitable for a milestone. As the proposers point out, various electric bike examples and products have been offered for more than 150 years. Examples such as the Electrocyclette (1927) and some older versions are well documented. The distinction seems to be an adaptation to a pedal-assist configuration in 1993. Even today there is a "throttle vs. pedal assist" discussion for purchasers of ebikes. There do seem to be some much earlier pedal-assist models. For example, http://www.ebikeportal.com/history/electric-bikes-during-the-thirties shows the Philips Simplex bike, which retains the pedals. The site also shows a few other designs that appear to be pedal-assist bikes. 2. The provided Ref. [1] does not seem to provide historical perspective and is not very effective in supporting the application. Are there patents or other technical literature, closer to primary references, that help establish the uniqueness of the milestone? The other references are secondary, to Wiki pages and the like, and have limits in terms of how effectively they establish "first" innovation in this context. 3. Can the proposers suggest any technical reviewers suitable for commenting on the application?
